


Precious

by PhenixFleur



Series: Dipper's Guide to Dating a Dream Demon [3]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Bill not being an ass for once, Fluff, Human Bill Cipher, Introspection, M/M, Older Dipper Pines
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-03-21 00:46:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3671259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhenixFleur/pseuds/PhenixFleur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dipper has an anxiety attack, Bill isn't sure how to respond to something that he can't just set on fire, and some uncomfortable realizations about human emotions ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Precious

Being human, or at least being one on a part time basis (it was a lot easier and a great deal more efficient to attend to some of his own activities in a form that required no energy to maintain) wasn’t so bad. In fact, on the rare occasions when he was completely honest, Bill had to admit it was pretty fun.

Actual  _sensation_  was damn near addictive. Eating was awesome, even with the unpleasant and positively disgusting results of doing so. And while his moderate level of omnipresence was great, being able to interact with the silly meatbags that overran the planet without giving away his true nature was even better, whether in terms of simply making mischief for the hell of it or manipulating people in person. 

Just because his plans for the town the inhabitants of the Mystery Shack lived in had ground to a halt didn’t mean Bill Cipher  _stopped_  being a demon. 

All of that was well and good, but the best part was without a doubt having the ability to be involved with the kid turned teenager turned rather attractive young adult with a cluster of stars tattooed across his forehead and Bill’s mark on his wrist. His Pine Tree was merely interesting when they first met, but over the years the slight spark of interest had gradually grown into something resembling an inferno. Humans were ridiculously short-lived creatures with inefficient bodies that generally failed to learn from their mistakes, and while Dipper was no different physically he was excluded from the criticism because he was Bill’s and Bill was his. He doubted the kid knew the dark thoughts that ran through his head at times, ranging from the protective - oh, what he would do to anyone that dared lay a finger on Dipper Pines - to the possessive. There were more occasions than he wanted to admit to that involved battling the part of himself that wanted to simply uproot his Pine Tree and take him back to the Mindscape where he’d be safe from anything the world could threaten him with, but mostly every glance, every smile, every gesture would be for Bill and Bill alone. 

But he wouldn’t be happy without his family and friends and his world, and it was for that reason alone that Bill worked to keep that side of himself in check. 

When he touched down in the attic of the Mystery Shack, intending to startle his human just to hear that sweet yelp of surprise that he never failed to let out and found Dipper sitting on the floor with his back against his bed, seemingly unable to breathe and making sounds of distress that were  _not_  enjoyable for some reason, Bill considered throwing his self-control to the wind and razing everything before scooping Dipper up and carrying him off. 

Instead he rushed over to the young man’s side, dropping to his knees and grabbing him by the shoulders, shaking him slightly. “What happened? What’s wrong?” 

Dipper didn’t look at him, continuing to gasp helplessly with his arms wrapped around his midsection. His complexion was pallid, and the expression of utter terror plastered across his face actually hurt Bill in a way that had nothing to do with sharp, pointy objects or frustration. He put that on the backburner for later.

He shook Dipper again, a little harder than before. “Answer me.” 

Dipper shook his head, finally making eye contact with him. His eyes were unfocused. “I..”

"What?" There was an unpleasant sensation in his stomach, and also in his chest, and maybe having a human body wasn’t so much fun after all because it was beginning to panic and in turn so was he. "What  _happened_?”

Usually he felt the shift when his composure began to slip and the monster overpowered the man, but this time he didn’t realize that his eye had gone red, blue waves of energy crackling in the air around him. “Did someone hurt you? Who was it?”

Dipper didn’t answer; it occurred to Bill that he  _couldn’t_  answer given that just breathing appeared to be an impossible task. He wasn’t injured, as far as Bill could tell; there was no heady scent of blood surrounding him, so it wasn’t something he could just heal. Perhaps the failure to breathe was some sort of illness? How many different afflictions could a human being suffer from? How did you deal with a problem you couldn’t just incinerate or magic away?

For the first time in an innumerable amount of years that bled together when time had little meaning, Bill felt completely lost. 

He ignored how his voice wavered, just slightly, as he looked his Pine Tree in the eye. “You have to talk to me. You have to tell me what’s wrong or I can’t fix it.” They weren’t the words of a demon or a being of pure energy or any other terms he used to describe himself, and neither was the rising flush of confusion and anxiety. “Please, Dipper.”

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seriously used that word.

"I can’t…" Dipper gasped, and with a burst of energy that he shouldn’t have left he lunged forward, wrapping his arms around the demon’s abdomen. "I can’t…"

He was shaking so hard,  _so hard_ , and the flames petered out and his eye resumed its usual gold as Bill seated himself on the wooden floor and pulled his shivering human into his lap. “It’s okay. Whatever happened, whoever hurt you, I’ll take care of it.” Dipper pushed his face against his chest, clinging to him rather desperately, and Bill removed his cap and placed it aside, running his fingers through his hair with one hand and massaging his back with the other. “It’s okay, Pine Tree. I’ll keep you safe.” He spoke out of impulse instead of intent, with a disregard for self-consciousness. 

After a few minutes of reassurance he realized that Dipper was breathing again. It was raspy and shallow, but they were breaths, and Bill felt himself smile, a genuine smile of relief. “Just breathe. Calm down. You’re with me.” 

Dipper took a deep, shuddering breath, and then burst into tears. 

This was  _awful_. 

Continuing to stroke his hair, the demon lowered his head onto his human’s, soft brown hair tickling his chin. “I worry about you. I’m not used to worrying about things. The thought of anything happening to you makes my heart hurt and that’s not something I’m used to either. Mostly because having a heart is a new experience. At least one I didn’t take from someone else.”

Even through his tears, Dipper chuckled a bit. It was weak and halfhearted, but it was a beautiful sound. Better than the yelp by far. 

"All of this is confusing and sort of horrible and you’re completely ruining my reputation, but it’s okay! You’re important to me." If this level of vulnerability and emotional turmoil was what human beings had to deal with on a constant basis maybe they were sturdier than he’d given them credit for. "You’re precious."

Precious. Had he ever used that word before? Bill couldn’t remember. He could remember most things. That meant he probably hadn’t. He mulled the word over in his head. Precious. Invaluable? Irreplaceable? Was his Pine Tree all of those things?

Dipper mumbled something; his breathing was steadily normalizing and the shaking had stopped altogether. He was okay, he was safe, he was alive, and there was something in Bill’s chest that felt like a lump of broken glass, something heavy and full. 

So  _that_  was what having a heart felt like. Painful, but whole. 

Bill didn’t know that demons could fall even further. 

"You’re precious," he said again, more forcefully than before, holding his human close. Dipper sighed, his tears tapering off, but he still held on for dear life. 

He wasn’t the only one.


End file.
